Who The Fire Favours (ONC2023) gxg

Chapter 10: Ixis

Ixis didn't know how she got here.

All she could remember was a flash of light, a burning, excruciating pain and then...nothing. Nothing but her failure spinning around in her head like a kaleidoscope of watercolour paintings she couldn't fully decipher. Scholar's Keep. The Undercity. The Peddler's Inn. All of it her fault.

Her memories slowly started slotting into place, the fuzzy haze of an argument with someone making her temples hurt with the start of a migraine. No matter how hard Ixis tried she couldn't piece together the details and instinctively clutched her head. Her wrist seared with pain as she cried out, stifling the sound within the muffled pillows surrounding her.

"Ixy?"

Curled up against her bandaged wrist like a lone protector, Hydra held her weight until she stopped sobbing with pain. The burnt husk of her dominant arm nestled deep within their scales as if trying to divert her eyes from the injury, but Ixis knew how bad it was. She could feel it. Not even her Timekeeper ability could fix this.

"I can't believe she just dismissed me after everything I've done! I was injured and all of a sudden I couldn't do...anything in her eyes!"

Ixis buried her face in the pillows, trying to breathe through it and focus on the reassuring words her Throneholder told her about her condition. The blast in Scholar's Keep had killed so many people and in an attempt to save them all she had overrun her Fire Trait to the point where her wrist had suffered the most damage.

"I know, I know Ixy. Maybe she's just worried about you." Dra tried to soothe her, no sign of her usual vanity clouding her empathy.

It made sense considering she had strained her dominant arm just to hold the bowstring taut. But something still didn't add up. Why bring her to the Undercity to recover? They had a perfectly suitable clinic in the Opalace, the grand castle of the Throneholder and only the elite of the Excelliars and those in training. To take her to the Undercity meant she had to already be there.

"Maybe...maybe she's mad at me. Maybe I did something unforgivable. Maybe I hid my injury and made it worse. Maybe..."

Ixis blushed embarrassingly, the thought of her hiding her injury to go to the protests made her heart rate spike even as she tried to control her breathing. It was mortifying to think she'd pushed herself that far. But she could believe it.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. Besides, look at the nice gift Skyla got you. They're daybloom flowers from home." Hyde looked around hurriedly, trying to distract her from spiralling.

Ixis brushed his scales awkwardly with her other hand, trying to make sense of everything as her eyes were drawn to the bunch of golden flowers familiar to her home. Despite growing up in the Undercity, as a toddler, she had been raised in Nocturus before her family had fallen on hard times and been driven out of her home. They had used their life savings from their joint business to move to Opalis and to try and get Ixis into training her Fire Trait, but not once had she had the time to visit since her apprenticeship.

"That's sweet of her. Maybe...maybe you're right. Maybe I should get some rest."

Ixis yawned, attempting to ignore the rattling winds at her window and felt the urge to drift back to sleep. But she couldn't help but think of her parents. Opalians hated anyone who hadn't grown up with them from the beginning and for Ixis, it was easier to say she was from Nocturus despite her lack of memories associated with it. Not that it made making friends in her apprenticeship any easier. If she hadn't met Hydra she would've been all alone.

"Hyde? Dra? Are you OK?"

Ixis couldn't help but be drawn to the dancing amber glow on the walls of the newly setup room, marvelling at how quickly they had mended the rotted walls and wooden beams. The slats that were now exposed charmingly instead of dangerously led her eye to the soft furnishings and open, fresh window that sent a gentle breeze despite the cool, night air. Until it didn't. Her Oathed wouldn't respond.

"It truly is a shame to know you do have a heart underneath all the Excelliars bullshit."

Her awake and alert dragon dropped like a stone, snuggled up against her chest as they let out a wheezy snore. Like a trap around her chest, the room filled with tension as the night seemed to stretch into the room to reach out at her menacingly. Ixis couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. In the expanse of her windowsill sat the very person she had just tried to kill mere days ago.

"Rider."

Ixis barely recognised the hiss of her own voice, erupting more like a dragon's than any kind of usual response. She had only seen the target at a distance from the ball but now, here she was in all of her overly dramatic glory. Still wearing the all black attire of the banned dress code in Scholar's Keep. Somehow, it had barely retained a speck of dust from the blast except for the dishevelled hat she tipped forwards in mocking response.

"The one and only."

The elusive Shadow Traited dropped into a similar bow to the one she had given the Throneholder that same night, but the look on her face was different. Rider was tired. Tired but determined. The grin she had on her face was tinged with a hidden threat, her eyes fixated not on her but her Oathed. Ixis immediately tucked herself protectively over her dragon, half expecting a stray projectile or dagger to come veering towards her.

"If you so much as touch a scale on my dragon's head I'll..."

Ixis was cut off short by a raucous laughter that reminded her of the rowdy patrons cheering at the promise of more alcohol. Rider's hat tipped upwards joyously as if the very notion was so far removed from her motives it was worth a good chuckle. But Ixis wasn't the Regent of the Excelliars for nothing.

"Oh please, Ixy. Even I wouldn't fuck with a Regent of Opalis. Or should I call you Trailblazer Ixis? I can't decide."

Any other day Ixis would've joked along with anyone but they didn't breach her privacy and threaten her life in her room. She narrowed her eyes at the intruder and her choice of nickname, proving how pivotal she had been within the Undercity protests. They had only given her that mantle after the Scholar's Keep disaster.

"I should call the guards right now and have you bound in chains for what you did in Scholar's Keep." Ixis threatened, attempting to stare her down despite her fatigue.

The Shadow Traited cocked her head to the side as if mishearing, casually resting her elbows on her knees and continued dangling her legs out the window without a care in the world. The curious, innocent look on Rider's face contrasted the fierce scar diagonally cutting through her face. Ixis didn't need to see how many she had collected over the years. She already knew.

"So, why don't you?"

The urge to grab Rider by her stupid collar and shake her senseless died the moment Ixis met her eyes. Despite her glare, the Fire Traited flinched and had no choice but to look away. The Shadow Traited she knew from all those years ago hadn't been so abrasive. She was kind, shy and reserved. Yet here she was challenging her intentions and forcing her to look at the wounds caused by her own Shadow Trait.

"Ah, I know. Don't tell me. You're afraid."

"Of you? Don't make me laugh." Ixis scoffed, ignoring the nervous waver in her voice.

Her breath hitched the moment Rider removed her hat. It was as much a part of her as the scar on her face or her piercing blue eyes. She was never seen without it, rumoured to keep it on throughout her entire apprenticeship. Ixis had never seen her take it off.

She had never seen the mischief in her eyes. The clench in her jaw. The freckle above her eyebrow. The slight curl of her hair tucked behind her ear. The upturn of her lip tweaked in a smile. The only person who had ever seen her that way was now her greatest enemy.

"No. You're afraid of Aria."